1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic components, and an electronic component that includes a thermistor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known example of a traditional electronic component that includes a thermistor is a laminated thermistor described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-243007.
FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a laminated thermistor 110. FIG. 10A illustrates the laminated thermistor 110 viewed from the lamination direction (z-axis direction), and FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the laminated thermistor 110 in an xy plane. The laminated thermistor 110 includes an internal electrode 106a connected to an external electrode 114a, an internal electrode 106b connected to an external electrode 114b, and an internal electrode 107 overlapping the internal electrodes 106a and 106b. 
An electronic component that includes a thermistor is used in various devices, such as a cellular phone, a personal computer, or a power supply component, for example. To support various uses, it is preferable for such an electronic component including a thermistor to allow variations in the resistance value of the thermistor to be increased without a significant change of thermistor characteristics, such as a rate of change of resistance or breakdown voltage. That is, an electronic component is desired that allows the resistance value to be easily and precisely adjusted without a significant change of the structure among thermistors in which various resistance values are required.
However, it is difficult for the laminated thermistor 110 described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-243007 to allow the resistance value to be changed without a significant change in the structure for the reasons described below. The resistance value in the laminated thermistor 110 depends on the sum of the area S11 of the region E11 where the internal electrode 106a and the internal electrode 107 overlap each other and the area S12 of the region E12 where the internal electrode 106b and the internal electrode 107 overlap each other. One possible approach to adjusting the resistance value in the laminated thermistor 110 is to change the sum of the areas S11 and S12 of the two regions E11 and E12.
However, in the laminated thermistor 110, because, even if the internal electrode 107 is displaced in the x-axis direction and the area S11 of the region E11 where the internal electrode 106a and the internal electrode 107 overlap each other is increased, the area S12 of the region E12 where the internal electrode 106b and the internal electrode 107 overlap each other is decreased, the sum of the two areas S11 and S12 is constant. Accordingly, in order to change the resistance value in the laminated thermistor 110, it is necessary to change the design, for example, the size or shape of the internal electrodes 106a, 106b, and 107 for each of various thermistors. In other words, for the laminated thermistor 110 described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-243007, it is difficult to easily change the resistance value without having to significantly change the structure. With a method of changing the shape of the internal electrodes 106a, 106b, and 107 for each desired resistance value, it is difficult to make fine adjustments such that the resistance value is in a desired range.